The weekend was here and I had finished up my week of classes at Spanish Ya! All in all a great experience. Friday afternoon, Gretchen and I had arranged for a lesson with the husband of the woman who runs the school. He took us to Playa Maderas with a few of his friends and gave us the rundown on the beach before getting in the water. It was more difficult for me because I had never done any snowboarding or sports of this nature, but still a great time. I was able to stand up once which I was proud about. After the lesson and we were ready for a break, we wandered away from the squatter-like cafe on Maderas and toward the ¨Hideout Surf Camp¨where he knew the owner. This place was legitimately straight out of Peter Pan and the lost boys. These guys were situated at the top of a massive rock fomation in a tree house, practicing skateboarding on a make-shift ramp. Definitely a sight to see. We continued wandering for a bit before turning back for Maderas. Following a beautiful sunset, we headed back into town for a quick bite before heading out. My friend Mascha from Granada was in San Juan too, so we met up with her for the night. There is definitely great nightlife in San Juan!
Saturday morning, we had arranged for a boatride with some of the guys we had met as well and left port at 10am. We cruised around for a while looking at the different beaches in the area and dropped anchor for a while to do a bit of swimming. Alan, the husband of the school owner is also a fisherman, so he dove in with his harpoon and came back up with a game fish! Pretty cool. We were also on board with a Canadian couple who liked to fish, so on the way back, they were able to reel in a rooster fish which I had never seen before. We returned to San Juan a few hours later ready to nap. Saturday night we were able to meet up again with some friends.
Sunday around 930, my ride came to take me back to Granada. When I arrived back at the school, the head of the school in Managua was already there waiting for me to arrive. I was able to reconnect with some friends in that school for a brief moment before heading to Managua. When I arrived at the homestay in Managua, the family was great and quick to embrace my presence. The mother, grandmother and five daughters live there which is great. We ate lunch together before I completely passed out and took a 4 hour nap. Totally unlike me, but clearly necessary. Around 630, they asked if I wanted to join them for the ¨Purissima¨. I figured, why not so they collected random instruments from around the house and huge shopping bags before leaving the house. I was still not sure what I was in for. We walked to their parish around the corner where there was a lineup of people waiting to sing to a statue of the Virgin Mary. Following singing, a woman handed out prizes, fruit...pretty much everything under the sun. I was definitely with the most lively of groups which was great. Picture kids on Halloween without the costumes and parents in tow singing to random statues of Virgin Mary all around the neighborhood! It was quite the experience. Even some of the households had karaoke type set ups where there was a band waiting to play for you upon entry. When we got back to the house, the girls feverishly sorted their prizes which included arroz con leche, flipflops, tanktops, soda, candy and home made candied cherries. Definitely an array of items. I am definitely happy I was able to take in this experience as I have never seen anything like it!
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